Speaking on the Roberts Space Industry website, Chris Roberts said the current build “doesn’t feel like it lives up to the standards we’ve want to achieve with Star Citizen.”

“The most significant technical hurdle faced today is the networking backend,” he stated. “Going into further detail on the technical side of these systems, one of our big hurdles was the creation of the GIM. This new system will be responsible for all the game servers that make up Star Citizen, and we’ve built it to have far more direct control over the internal state and operation of each game server than was available before.

“The GIM not only manages Arena Commander and Star Marine instances, but also provides a solid framework for instanced multiplayer Hangars as well as the instanced Universe game servers that will form the persistent universe. The GIM allocates and recycles game servers at a much faster rate and in a more reliable way than before, helping to get players into the action more quickly and keeping them in their games with less incident.

“A second challenge has been the need to rewrite the game’s Matchmaking system from scratch, taking an entirely different approach to the process that will eliminate long waits during the Match search process. I’m happy to report that, as of this week, the new matchmaking software has been integrated and is undergoing testing.”

Other than the technical aspects, which Roberts goes into great detail on, one of the “biggest issues” was with getting gameplay visuals “right”. While tech engineers work on the backend, other teams will continue to work on Star Marine. Roberts said 15% of the studio is working on the FPS content, and the rest on continued Star Citizen development.

Originally set for release after PAX East in April, a new timeframe release was not noted, but don’t expect it any time soon. However, the team is going to “investigate releasing a build with Star Marine disabled” so players can experience some of the changes and updates made over the last few months to the core code base.

“When will we see Star Marine? Tonight, I don’t have an absolute answer for you. What I will tell you is that we know exactly what we have to do, and we’re already well on our way to doing it,” said Roberts.

The detailed post is through the link, and it is a rather long read.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/06/30/star-citizen-fps-star-marine-delayed/feed/0Star Marine is the name of Star Citizen’s FPS module, dev talks zero-g combathttp://www.vg247.com/2015/05/11/star-marine-is-the-name-of-star-citizens-fps-module-dev-talks-zero-g-combat/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/05/11/star-marine-is-the-name-of-star-citizens-fps-module-dev-talks-zero-g-combat/#commentsMon, 11 May 2015 20:48:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=526264The FPS module of Star Citizen has been named Star Marine and the developer has detailed its plans for the space-sim’s latest component.

The lengthy post goes over the number of development disciplines that are working on the component, as well as technical aspects like animation, art, environment, movement in zero-g and more.

One interesting part of the update describes a sci-fi sport of sorts called SATA Ball. The game is played in a zero-g arena where two teams spawn at opposite ends. A ball is spawned in the centre and both teams must race towards it to control it. The players can only move using their limbs, as well as a grappling hook.

Shooting will play a small role, but it won’t be the focus of this mode. Players can only disbale their opponents for a short period of time after shooting them.

“Since the days of Wing Commander, I’ve dreamed of integrating a first person shooter with a space sim. It’s such an exciting idea: you might land your fighter on a carrier and then race into battle to repel alien boarders… or you might put down on a seedy border world and fight off pirates eager to steal your cargo,” said Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts.

“That’s why we kicked off Star Citizen as a ‘First Person Universe’ right from the start, and it’s why we picked an FPS engine to build on. Star Citizen isn’t like my previous games: you aren’t directly ‘playing’ a ship… you’re controlling a character who is flying a ship. You’ve had first person action against fighters in Arena Commander, you’ve explored your hangar… you’ve even drawn your pistol in combat to take shots at other players and their ships!”

A number of teams within developer Cloud Imperium are working on the update in different ways. When it’s released, it will be in alpha stage, but will feature “animation fidelity and attention to detail that you wouldn’t normally expect in an ‘alpha’ gameplay module.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/05/11/star-marine-is-the-name-of-star-citizens-fps-module-dev-talks-zero-g-combat/feed/0Star Citizen earned another $1 million within two weeks – total hits $76 millionhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/03/25/star-citizen-earned-another-1-million-within-two-weeks-total-hits-76-million/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/25/star-citizen-earned-another-1-million-within-two-weeks-total-hits-76-million/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2015 15:59:33 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=519608Star Citizen continues its funding streak with backers pumping another $1 million into the game’s development in the last two weeks.

The total earned for the space sim has now reached $76 million ($76,015,532 to be exact) with 851,395 backers contributing to the staggering figure.

Star Citizen’s latest update was version 1.1 which included two more expensive ships, a new manual, a new way to access Arena Commander and the REC rental system along with the new landing system.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/25/star-citizen-earned-another-1-million-within-two-weeks-total-hits-76-million/feed/0Star Citizen 1.1 lands with two new ships and a galaxy of small changeshttp://www.vg247.com/2015/03/22/star-citizen-1-1-new-ships-landing-system/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/22/star-citizen-1-1-new-ships-landing-system/#commentsSun, 22 Mar 2015 23:09:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=518948Star Citizen has 1.1, the first major update since the Arena Commander module landed.

Star Citizen 1.1 delivers two more achingly expensive ships.

The update also brings a new manual and a new way to access Arena Commander (and later other modules, too), as well as the REC rental system, a dynamic damage system and better character animations.

Probably the most substantial gameplay change is the new landing system; it’s well worth reading up on over on Roberts Space Industries.

If you like your update details dry and detailed, the full patch notes are available.

This new Star Citizen trailer was released at SXSW and isn’t necessarily indicative of the experience you’ll have playing now – it includes a look at upcoming modules and unrelease content.

It does look far more promising than early footage, though. The project is starting to resemble the promises made at inception, rewarding the record-breaking number of crowdfunding backers for their faith.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/16/star-citizen-has-come-a-long-way/feed/0You can try Star Citizen for free with a special code [UPDATE]http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/14/star-citizen-demo-pc-20gb/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/14/star-citizen-demo-pc-20gb/#commentsSat, 14 Mar 2015 15:23:24 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=517691Those wanting to give Star Citizen from Roberts Space Industries a go can do so for free using one of two codes.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/14/star-citizen-demo-pc-20gb/feed/0Star Citizen may end up as a 100 GB downloadhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/03/11/star-citizen-may-end-up-as-a-100-gb-download/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/11/star-citizen-may-end-up-as-a-100-gb-download/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 23:50:10 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=517215Star Citizen is going to be huge. Huuuuuuuuuge.

Far from finished, Star Citizen is already pretty enormous. The final build, with its story missions, social spaces, first-person gameplay and more, will be a very weighty package indeed.

According to developer Cloud Imperium games, all this content won’t come cheaply in terms of download time and HDD space.

“The size and number of assets that are left to deliver means that our client size is much more likely to be 100 GB,” game operations director Jeremy Masker wrote on the game’s forums.

There’s not much hope of patches getting any smaller, either.

“We are optimizing game patching for speed and to only deliver diffs, but this is unlikely to reduce actual patch size,” he said.

“Each patch has 100s of assets, each of these assets are at times 200 MB, this leads to 2-6 GB patches, and if we end up doing a file type re-factor and have to re-download 30-40% of the assets on the hard-drive, then the patch will be 14-20 GB.”

Lord, that’s weighty. Just another reason why Star Citizen isn’t being considered for consoles, I guess.

Star Citizen developer Roberts Space Industries has implemented a new ship damage model that will take into account things like the type of projectile fired, whether the impact was an explosion or a scratch, and more. The engine will model damage based on four quantities: temperature, burn, thickness, and deformation.

“Using these four damage values we can make the hull glow with heat, make paint burn and bubble, peel paint off to expose the underlying metal, dent and deform the surface, and even cut holes through the hull to expose the internal wiring and mechanics,” reads the development blog post.

“Rather than the internals of the ship only being modelled in specific locations we now model the internals under the vast majority of the hull. You might expect this would involve a lot of work for the artists, but they’ve come up with several methods of adding these internals very efficiently and the overall damage state setup is now significantly quicker than before.”

Going forward, the developer hopes to add other effects and more details under surface of the ship, things like sparks or damaged equipment.

For now, you can have a look at a demonstration of the new tech here:

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/09/take-a-look-star-citizens-impressive-ship-damage-model/feed/0Star Citizen will be a proper grown up game very, very soonhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/02/24/star-citizen-will-be-a-proper-grown-up-game-very-very-soon/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/02/24/star-citizen-will-be-a-proper-grown-up-game-very-very-soon/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 22:22:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=514403Star Citizen will soon be more than a collection of modules and the fervent hopes of its crowdfunding backers, apparently.

Star Citizen designer Chris Roberts has said that while he and the team at Cloud Imperium games are not ready to share dates, the space sim is finally starting to come together.

“The coming months are going to be something else. Without sharing internal target dates, I will tell you that we are entering into the tightest schedule we’ve ever had for public releases,” he wrote on Roberts Space Industries.

“In short order, you will see Arena Commander 1.1 (now with REC!), the FPS module and the so-called ‘social module,’ our first foray into the persistent universe.

“We’ve talked a lot about how Star Citizen will come together from disparate pieces over the past year, and we are now entering into when that happens. I can’t express how excited I am.”

Star Citizen has been in development for so long that it has pulled together $74 million in crowdfunding, both from simple pledges and from sales of add-ons.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/02/24/star-citizen-will-be-a-proper-grown-up-game-very-very-soon/feed/0Here’s the release schedule for Star Citizen’s story and first-person moduleshttp://www.vg247.com/2015/01/22/star-citizen-release-date-first-person/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/22/star-citizen-release-date-first-person/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 02:16:47 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=508799Star Citizen lead Chris Roberts has shared release windows for several modules of the space simulation sandbox.

Star Citizen was the focus of a BAFTA Masterclass presentation yesterday, during which Roberts outlined the game’s current development milestone goals.

Polygon captured the details. The first person shooter, planetside and social elements on the game are expected to go into beta in northern spring this year. Arena Commander 2.0 Multicrew Ships will follow in summer.

The really big news is that the first episode of Squadron 42 will launch in autumn. This single-player, story-driven campaign is one of the most anticipated features, and as such this will probably be considered Star Citizen’s “real” release date.

However, the Persistent Universe won’t launch, even for backers, until the end of 2015, and the commercial launch of the whole game is expected in 2016.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/22/star-citizen-release-date-first-person/feed/0Star Citizen Arena Commander 1.0.1 launches with public test serverhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/01/21/star-citizen-arena-commander-1-0-1-launches-with-public-test-server/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/21/star-citizen-arena-commander-1-0-1-launches-with-public-test-server/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 05:41:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=508626Star Citizen players can now experience the delights of untested, in-beta features even more than they already do in the incomplete, unreleased game! Yayy!

No seriously, Star Citizen now has a public test server, only because everything is in theme with Cloud Imperium games it’s called the Public Test Universe.

According to a new Roberts Space Industries post, every Star Citizen backer has access to the PTS PTU, which includes a build of Arena Commander 1.0.1.

“Please note that the PTU is not for the faint of heart: unlike standard Arena Commander, you’re one of the first people testing a new build which can often be unstable or otherwise non-functional,” the developer warned.

“If you’re serious about helping us test Star Citizen, accessing the PTU and reporting bugs on the forums is one of the biggest services you can provide… but if you’re looking for a clean dogfight, you may want to stick to the standard build.

“We’re committed to including our backers as early in the development process as possible, so getting the Public Test Universe accessible to everyone as quickly as we could was a priority.

“The PTU will not be permanently accessible; it will be available on occasions that the community is needed for testing a patch, and will usually be deactivated after a patch goes live on the main channel. We will update you in this space when PTU content is available for testing.”

Hit the link above for details on how to access the PTU.

Update: now with trailer.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/21/star-citizen-arena-commander-1-0-1-launches-with-public-test-server/feed/0Star Citizen fans, buy in now before VAT applieshttp://www.vg247.com/2015/01/20/star-citizen-fans-buy-in-now-before-vat-applies/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/20/star-citizen-fans-buy-in-now-before-vat-applies/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 01:58:58 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=508343Star Citizen purchases will shortly become slightly more expensive for European games.

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has elected to open a European publishing arm based in the UK.

In some ways this is good news, because it will allow for local customer support, but it does also mean that purchases made by European customers will be subject to local laws – and taxes. Yes, the VAT is coming.

According to a Roberts Space Industries post, the VAT will come into effect on February 1, so you have a little while left to take advantage of lower prices before it applies.

“We wish there were an alternative to charging the tax, but also believe that it is in our best interest to expand Star Citizen’s footprint to a part of the world that has proven to be truly passionate about space games,” the company said.

“By popular request, we will make a selection of limited edition and wave two ships available again during the week of January 26, in case there’s a past favourite you missed out on and would like to pick up before the international publishing switches over to RSI. Please check this space on the 26th for a list of available ships.”

The reveal took place during a fan event in Melbourne, in conjunction with the community show.

A recording of the demonstration, which the studios said also contains “a few other surprises” can be found below.

Star Citizen is currently still in testing with backers, and is slated for release sometime next year.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/10/31/star-citizen-fps-pc-pax-australia/feed/0Here’s six Star Citizen videos for you to watchhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/08/16/star-citizen-pc-videos-2015/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/08/16/star-citizen-pc-videos-2015/#commentsSat, 16 Aug 2014 19:40:03 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=487321In the last 22 hours, six videos for Star Citizen have been releases, covering everything from hangars to FPS elements.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/08/16/star-citizen-pc-videos-2015/feed/0Money continues to roll in for Star Citizen as $50 million stretch goal is announcedhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/07/15/star-citizen-48-million-50-million/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/15/star-citizen-48-million-50-million/#commentsTue, 15 Jul 2014 15:48:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=482892Star Citizen funding has now hit $48 million, according to Cloud Imperium boss Chris Roberts who also announced a $50 million stretch goal.

The latest milestone was met due to sales of the the Gladius and Dogtag sales, which means the team can now create the user-voted Retaliator commercial, which David Haddock has started scripting.

The $50 million stretch goal “will truly improve the immersion” by adding Alien Languages, which will have real-world linguists creating “distinctive and realistic alien languages for Star Citizen’s three biggest alien races.”

These are the Vanduul, the Xi’An and the Banu.

“No universal translators, no garbled animal noises: Star Citizen’s aliens will be speaking their own authentic languages,” reads the post from Roberts. “I’m excited about this one… and looking forward to meeting the first fan who learns to speak one of our languages.”

Star Citizen is expected on PC in 2015.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/15/star-citizen-48-million-50-million/feed/1Star Citizen coffers contiue to fill as space-sim hits $44 million milestonehttp://www.vg247.com/2014/05/24/star-citizen-hits-44-million-stretch-goal/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/24/star-citizen-hits-44-million-stretch-goal/#commentsSat, 24 May 2014 17:51:11 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=474531Star Citizen has now raised $44 million total through its crowdfunding efforts, Roberts Space Industries has announced.

The letter goes on to discuss the Stellar Cartography feature for those who pledged the latest milestone, and details the Updated Scanning Software which will be developed should the project hit $46 million.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/24/star-citizen-hits-44-million-stretch-goal/feed/3Star Citizen passes another crowdfunding milestonehttp://www.vg247.com/2014/04/29/star-citizen-passes-another-crowdfunding-milestone/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/29/star-citizen-passes-another-crowdfunding-milestone/#commentsTue, 29 Apr 2014 04:53:36 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=467707Star Citizen has now raised $43 million total through its crowdfunding efforts, Roberts Space Industries has announced. The latest milestone unlocked a set of marine combat armour for backers. Rewards have been announced for $44 million and $45 million, with fans asked to vote on what will be offered at $46 million. Star Citizen is expected on PC in 2015.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/29/star-citizen-passes-another-crowdfunding-milestone/feed/0Star Citizen crowdfunding total reaches $42 million, adding new fighter, towelhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/star-citizen-crowdfunding-total-reaches-42-million-adding-new-fighter-towel/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/star-citizen-crowdfunding-total-reaches-42-million-adding-new-fighter-towel/#commentsTue, 15 Apr 2014 03:00:56 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=465032Star Citizen fans have now poured $42 million into Roberts Space Industries’ coffers, ensuring new content both for the space sim in general as well as for all early backers.

Updated Observist Guide – Additional funding from the $42 million level will go to expanding the website area of the Galactapedia: expect to see holographic ships, items and navigation interface in 3D.

Explorer-class mobiGlas Rig – Every player who backed before we hit $42 million will start the game with their own, visually distinctive mobiGlas “ExoGlas” rig which can be used to access the Observist at any time.

Gladius – The Squadron 42 team will develop an additional fighter for the game, the Aegis Dynamics Gladius-class light fighter.

Towel – And of course, everyone who backs before we hit $42 million will also receive a towel for their hangar. Don’t explore the galaxy without it.

The towel is, of course, a reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the number 42 plays an important role.

Cloud Imperium Games now has stretch goals in place for $43 million and $44 million.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/15/star-citizen-crowdfunding-total-reaches-42-million-adding-new-fighter-towel/feed/13Star Citizen Pax East 2014 panel shows in-game Dogfightinghttp://www.vg247.com/2014/04/11/star-citizen-pax-east-2014-panel-shows-in-game-dogfighting/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/11/star-citizen-pax-east-2014-panel-shows-in-game-dogfighting/#commentsFri, 11 Apr 2014 15:41:43 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=464602Star Citizen was shown off by Chris Roberts during a PAX East panel today, and the live demo showed many things indeed: including a look at Dogfighting. It’s below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/11/star-citizen-pax-east-2014-panel-shows-in-game-dogfighting/feed/10Star Citizen passes $41 million in funding, next stretch goal will add a new fighterhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/03/31/star-citizen-passes-41-million-in-funding-next-stretch-goal-will-add-a-new-fighter/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/31/star-citizen-passes-41-million-in-funding-next-stretch-goal-will-add-a-new-fighter/#commentsMon, 31 Mar 2014 16:20:26 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=461105Star Citizen has passed the $41 million mark in funding. And as promised, the simulation will not get procedurally generated content.

Should it reach that goal, the game will get new content, including an in-game towel for players who pledge before reaching that goal. The most interesting addition however will be the new light short-range patrol fighter, called the Gladius fighter.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/31/star-citizen-passes-41-million-in-funding-next-stretch-goal-will-add-a-new-fighter/feed/5Star Citizen will contain Moon Collider’s AI system Kytherahttp://www.vg247.com/2014/03/12/star-citizen-will-contain-moon-colliders-ai-system-kythera/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/12/star-citizen-will-contain-moon-colliders-ai-system-kythera/#commentsWed, 12 Mar 2014 15:53:57 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=456093Moon Collider, the company behind artificial intelligence system Kythera, and Cloud Imperium Games have announced partnership which will ensure the AI is included in Star Citizen.

Kythera will be part of Star Citizen’s universe as a “guiding hand” for computer-controlled characters and spacecraft throughout the PC space-simulation title.

“You’ll soon find Kythera in a range of titles, from an indie hack-and-slash to a point-and-click adventure,” said Moon Collider CEO and president Matthew Jack. “But we couldn’t have a better showcase than Star Citizen. We call Kythera the dynamic AI, and our ambition for it is to step up to the next level of creative gameplay and immersive worlds.

At time of writing, Roberts Space Industries showed the current pledge total at $40,014,339. With just 405,399 backers, that’s very close to $100 each – well above the usual US RRP for a triple-A game.

By hitting this huge target, backers have ensured two additional star systems will be featured.

Chris Roberts is yet to pen his usual letter from the chairman commemorating the milestone, but the next stretch goal of $41 million has been set.

Star Citizen offers a variety of rewards to encourage backers to pledge, or to increase their pledge, including in-game goods, alpga access and more.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/10/star-citizen-crowdfunding-passes-40-million-milestone/feed/5Star Citizen’s Dogfighting Module has a release window, space sim’s team is 212 stronghttp://www.vg247.com/2014/03/05/star-citizens-dogfighting-module-has-a-release-window-space-sims-team-is-212-strong/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/05/star-citizens-dogfighting-module-has-a-release-window-space-sims-team-is-212-strong/#commentsWed, 05 Mar 2014 14:57:46 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=453925Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games has posted its first monthly report on the status of the space simulation title. In it there were two main things of note: the Dogfighting Module has been given a release time-frame, and the development team size is 212 strong.

According to Chris Roberts, the team plans to premiere dogfighting at a “special Citizens-only event” which will take place prior to PAX East.

“If all goes as planned, the Dogfighting Module itself will launch shortly after PAX and you will finally get your hands on your flight sticks,” he wrote. “The team is scurrying to take care of thousands upon thousands of necessary details: variable damage states, HUD detailing, weapons cameras, engine sounds and countless other things that go into creating an immersive space combat experience.

“At this point, we can now regularly dogfight here in the office.”

Roberts also touched upon the size of his team, which is rather large but a game this size needs it apparently.

“You may find it interesting to know that as of this moment there are 212 people working on Star Citizen between the internal and external studios and contractors,” said Roberts. “More people are working on this project than most AAA console titles, and it’s definitely the largest team to work on a Space Sim. These are jobs you have created. It’s an amazing accomplishment and it’s all down to your passion for space sims, PCs and doing something different.

“Not only that but these are 212 developers that want what you want – to make the best game possible – they don’t have to worry about a publisher pushing them to release early to plug a hole in a quarterly revenue plan or to incorporate a feature just because it’s the flavor of the month.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/05/star-citizens-dogfighting-module-has-a-release-window-space-sims-team-is-212-strong/feed/5Star Citizen hits $39 million, next stretch goal adds procedural generation teamhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/22/star-citizen-hits-39-million-next-stretch-goal-adds-procedural-generation-rd-team/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/22/star-citizen-hits-39-million-next-stretch-goal-adds-procedural-generation-rd-team/#commentsSat, 22 Feb 2014 14:31:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=450745Star Citizen has now netted $39 million in funding, and the new $40 million stretch goal would add a procedural generation R&D team for “creating entire planets worth of exploration and development content.”

“Our previous stretch goals have been about expanding Star Citizen immediately; adding new ships, new systems and more,” wrote Roberts. “Each one has added something to the game while allowing us to widen our bandwidth: hire more employees, expand our development facilities, purchase new technology and so on. Now it’s time to look a little further in the future.

“Among the most common feature requests for Star Citizen are atmospheric combat and ground exploration. These are the single biggest things we would like to include in the game, but they’re also something we know we can’t have day one. Our universe is a big place, and creating the hundreds of existing landouts properly is enough of a challenge… building entire continents and atmospheres in the current system would take a lifetime.

“That’s where procedural generation comes in. If we can develop a truly great procedural generation system, one that lets us create entire planets for you to populate, then we can expand the game to add these features (and more) in the future.”

Roberts goes on to say the $40 million goal would allow Cloud Imperium to allocate funding to develop procedural generation technology for future iterations of Star Citizen. To do this, the studio needs a “special strike team of procedural generation-oriented developers” to make the technology a reality.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/22/star-citizen-hits-39-million-next-stretch-goal-adds-procedural-generation-rd-team/feed/10Star Citizen and Kingdom Come teams enter “unofficial partnership” to share tech secretshttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/20/star-citizen-and-kingdom-come-teams-enter-unofficial-partnership-to-share-tech-secrets/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/20/star-citizen-and-kingdom-come-teams-enter-unofficial-partnership-to-share-tech-secrets/#commentsThu, 20 Feb 2014 11:58:57 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=450205Star Citizen studio Roberts Space Industries and Kingdom Come: Deliverance team Warhorse Studios have announced an “unofficial partnership” that will see both teams sharing technical knowledge. Both titles are in development now in CryEngine.

Over on the Roberts Space Industries site, Chris Robets explained that he got in touch with Warhorse first after seeing the Kingdom Come reveal trailer (above) in action.

He wrote, “Kingdom Come doesn’t just look like a great game, though: it looks like something we on the Star Citizen team could learn from. The characters and outfits I saw working in-engine in the trailer impressed me so much that I contacted the team to talk about what was going on under the hood. Star Citizen doesn’t need peasants and knights … but it does need a robust character creation system for the persistent universe. And that technology is exactly what Warhorse is building for the CryEngine.”

“The good news is,” he added, “the team at Warhorse isn’t just an incredible talented group of people… they’re also kindred spirits who are willing to share the work they’ve done! We will be sharing with them the tricks for working with CryEngine we’ve learned over the last 18 months and they will be letting us in on the secrets and the tech behind what they’re doing! I’ve always said that independent developers should stick together, and the potential good for both games that can come from this unofficial partnership is proof positive!”

Roberts added that he is among Kingdom Come’s backers on Kickstarter. Current Star Citizen funding sits at over a staggering $35 million.

The latest million unlocks the Cano, Oretani, and Kabal systems. When – there’s really no if anymore – funding hits $39 million, the developer intends to announce a mysterious new goal, presumably at $40 million, that will “help chart the course for the future of Star Citizen in a different way”. Well, well.

Star Citizen is expected on PC in 2015.

To-do list this afternoon: eat a lot of ice cream, write a script that generates a new Star Citizen milestone headline once a week.

That’s not quite as speedy a jump as last time, when it pooled a couple of million in a handful of days, but the monthly funding graph shows pledges tend to come in rushes.

Although $35 million is a very large number, what’s perhaps even more impressive is the number of backers involved; with over 330,000 pledges, the average donation – or pre-order – works out to about $100, well more than the asking price for a triple-A release in major territories.

“You’re not just re-writing the rules of how games are made and funded but you’re showing the power that a committed community has to achieve a vision that so many people said was no longer relevant,” Chris Roberts wrote in the latest chairman’s letter.

“You’ve broken every record there is in crowd funding – and not just for games – for any type of project.”

Roberts noted that “a large amount” of the latest batch of funding came from 6,617 new backers, as opposed to existing fans increasing their pledged.

By reaching $35 million, backers have unlocked the last of a series of fan-voted ship designs – the Drake Herald.

Roberts Space Industries has stretch goals in place for $36 million, $37 million and $38 million.

Star Citizen is expected on PC in 2015.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/23/star-citizen-crowdfunding-total-hits-35-million/feed/15Star Citizen has hit $33 million, next stretch goal set for $34 millionhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/11/27/star-citizen-has-hit-33-million-next-stretch-goal-set-for-34-million/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/27/star-citizen-has-hit-33-million-next-stretch-goal-set-for-34-million/#commentsWed, 27 Nov 2013 19:33:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=430863Star Citizen has hit $33 million, after just this morning the total sat at $31,137,083.

Roberts Space Industries announced the new figure on the official website, noting that the Anvil Carrack has now been unlocked.

For the next five stretch goals, the team would like to add an additional system to the game and allow backers to pick the major feature.